Just getting back from a successful pool workout and thinking about setting goals that look like mountains when we set them. 4 months ago I set a goal to complete a 70.3 Ironman event for my 40th birthday. A half Ironman includes a 1.2 mile swim as the first event. When I set the goal, I could just barely swim two laps in a pool for a total of 50 yards. That is just 2% of the swim distance I would need to be able to do. Since then I've taken swim lessons, been to triathlon swim clinics, started open water swimming, bought some Speedos(at least I look like I know what I'm doing), learned about googles, pull buoys, kick boards, swim technique drills, bought a wet suit, and I've been swimming 3-4 days a week.
And today I just swam 48 laps non-stop, or about .68 miles. It was slow and my technique may not have been Michael Phelps-esque at the end(or at the beginning for that matter) but non the less, I can now say I can swim over 1/2 mile.
Less than two weeks away from my first sprint triathlon that starts with a 400 meter swim, and I'm finally feeling like I just might not need to be pulled in by a kayak and have my stomach pumped.
I share this with the hope of being an encouragement to you in reaching your goals. Hopefully, you have some mountainous goals of your own. Need to lose 100 pounds? Want to get off the couch and run a 5K, 10K, or maybe even a marathon? Want to go back to school and finish your college degree, or maybe you dropped out of high school and want to get a GED?
Get started. It doesn't matter how fast you move towards your goal at the start, its important to just get moving. I like the marathon t-shirts that say, "The miracle is not that I finished, but that I had the courage to start." Get a book, subscribe to a magazine, join a club, research on the internet, whatever you need to do to start learning about what you want to accomplish. Get away from the people who have given up on their goals, and get around the people who have attained what you want.
And please don't use the excuse that you don't have time. I'm sure there are a few of you more busy than I am, but only a few. It's not uncommon for me to work 28 days out of a 30 day month, and most of those 12 hour shifts. I teach two karate classes a week if I'm not working. I swim, bike, or run 7 hours a week. I cut my own grass, tend to a vegetable garden, do the banking, help cook meals, help with dishes, sometimes laundry, and house chores. I'm still and involved dad and husband. I'm not a superman, I'm just like you. But I make time for what is important to me. Want to accomplish big things? The number one thing you can do is turn off the tv. It's amazing how many books you can read, how much time you can spend jumping on a trampoline with your kids, and how many miles you can run if you will just eliminate that one thing from your life. I've decided that the tv just doesn't add any value to my life and decided to give it up. If I could just do the same thing with Jelly Bellys….
Let me leave you now with this. I hope it inspires you like it does me. Turn up the sound and watch it in full screen.
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